'The price of bread in Azerbaijan is not adequate to the price of wheat'

The recent decrease in flour and bread prices in Azerbaijan appears to be linked to the global depreciation of flour and wheat. However, the reduction in flour prices does not correspond proportionally to the decrease in bread prices. For instance, the cost of a 38 kg bag of flour has dropped from 50 manat to 29.50 manat, while the decrease in bread prices is only 5 kopecks, with bread now being sold at 60 kopecks instead of 65 kopecks.

The reasons behind this price disparity have not been disclosed by official institutions and bakeries. Azerbaijan currently falls short of meeting its domestic demand for food wheat, prompting the government to aim for increased wheat production. Some experts consider the decline in food wheat to be temporary.

The Ministry of Agriculture informed Turan that winter grain cultivation was carried out on an area of 1,044,660 hectares during the 2022/2023 agricultural year, representing a 7.8 percent increase compared to the previous year. Grain cultivation is taking place in over 60 regions across Azerbaijan. Approximately 40 percent of grain fields have been harvested, yielding 792,444 tons of barley and 523,354 tons of wheat from an area of 410,237 hectares. The average yield stands at 30.4 quintals for barley and 34.9 quintals for wheat.

Economist Natig Jafarli Economist Natig Jafarli told Radio Azadlig that local wheat production in Azerbaijan meets only 25 percent of demand that local wheat production in Azerbaijan only fulfills 25 percent of the demand, with the remaining 75 percent imported from abroad. He attributed this dependency to various factors, including inadequate approaches in the agricultural sector, a shift towards non-food crops resulting in decreased wheat cultivation, and reduced productivity. Moreover, the quality of domestically produced wheat is reportedly low. These issues have led to a reliance on foreign imports, making Azerbaijan susceptible to price fluctuations in the global market.

According to The Economist, the price of wheat on the world market has dropped by 30 percent compared to the same period last year. However, this decrease is not proportional to the rate of declining bread prices in Azerbaijan. During the crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine last year, Azerbaijan primarily imported wheat from Kazakhstan, but it has now returned to purchasing it from Russia at a lower price.